Container including a rotatable spherical valve with ring driver gear teeth

ABSTRACT

The following specification describes a valved container comprising a rotatable cap part, a valve member having spherical surfaces moveable through a limited range of rotation between registry of its orifice with an aperture in the cap to define an open position and a closed position at which spherical surfaces of the valve member form a seal with concave sealing surfaces of the cap, the cap containing a ring driver gear teeth on the valve member and the valve member being supported in saddle sockets in the container spout in such manner that tensioned locking means holding the cap in assembly with the spout develops the sealing pressure required, the components being adapted for automatic assembly in the inverted position.

United States Patent Middleton [54] CONTAINER INCLUDING A ROTATABLE SPHERICAL VALVE WITH RING DRIVER GEAR TEETH Edward B. Middleton, 245 Forest Hill Drive, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Filed: May 28, 1971 Appl. No.: 147,890

Related US. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. Nos. 35,673, May 8, 1970, and Ser. No. 133,180, April 12, 1971.

Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,120,510 6/1938 Rhoads ..222/507 2,495,015 ll 1950 McGrath ..222/507 [451 Sept. 12, 1972 Rossetti ..-.....222/507 Joffe ..222/548 X [5 7] ABSTRACT The following specification describes a valved container comprising a rotatable cap part, a valve member having spherical surfaces moveable through a limited range of rotation between registry of its orifice with an aperture in the cap to define an open position and a closed position at which spherical surfaces of the valve member form a seal with concave sealing surfaces of the cap, the cap containing a ring driver gear teeth on the valve member and the valve member being supported in saddle sockets in the container spout in such manner that tensioned locking means holding the cap in assembly with the spout develops the sealing pressure required, the components being adapted for automatic assembly in the inverted position.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I I I 16 I5 CONTAINER INCLUDING A ROTATABLE SPHERICAL VALVE WITH RING DRIVER GEAR TEETH This application is a continuation in part of my prior applications ROTATABLE OPENING CONTAINER CLOSURE, Ser. No. 35,673 filed May 8, 1970 and PORTION DISPENSING CLOSURE FOR CON TAINERS, Ser. No. 133,180 filed Apr. 12th, 1971 in which a spherical or hemispherical valve member was mounted on a carrier member and in turn adapted to be mounted on the spout of a container and held thereon by a rotatable cap in such manner that a gear about the transverse axis of rotation of the valve member articulated with a rack gear, preferably in the cap member.

This invention relates to a valved container in the form .of a rotatable apertured cap adapted to retain a valve member in assembly with the container and movable to open and close the valve.

The production of such items by automatic molding and assembly techniques is facilitated by the use of a mounting ring or carrier for the valve element. In both said prior applications this is facilitated by a deformable connection between the valved member and a barrel body mountable on the container spout. Such earlier forms of this invention require for automatic assembly either a component such as a ring mounting member or a barrel body.

It is accordingly the main object of the invention to provide a valved container comprising three main components adapted for automatic assembly and comprising a container characterized by a spout, an orificed valve member mountable in said spout and an apertured cap adapted to retain the valve member tensionably in assembly with the spout and rotatable to effect rotation of the valve member between open and closed positions.

It is another object of the invention to provide a valved container as set forth herein especially adapted for fabrication by injection and blow molding techniques.

Other objects of the invention will be appreciated by a study of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cut-away view of the spout area of the valved container of the invention revealing the parts of each of the components in section.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the valve element and a fragment of the spout portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the container components of the invention.

IN THE SPECIFICATION The valve container comprises a container body 11 preferably blow moulded of an elastomer-type plastic material after the injection moulded forming of the spout portion 12 and a substantially hemispherical valve member 13 and rotatable cap 14. The outer rim portion 15 of spout 12 carries diametrically opposed saddle sockets 16 (FIG. 3) and provides in its outer surfaces 17 a locking flange 18 adapted to be engaged by the inwardly extending locking head 19 as at 20 extending inwardly from side wall 21 of cap 14 at a position holding the inner annular locating surface 22 of cap 14 in rotatably slidable full assembled engagement with rim surfaces 23 of spout 12.

The valve member 13 comprises a generally hemispherical body portion 24 defined by the hemispherical wall 25 of substantially uniform thickness and having eccentrically located therein the orifice 26 normally located out of a position of registry with the centrally located aperture 27 of cap 14. The valve body 24 carries the transversely outwardly extending stud shafts 28, the same being shown in more detail in FIG. 3, being formed to terminate upwardly in the flared motion limiting surfaces 29 defined by the stop lug portions 30 thereof. The geometry of surfaces 29 define an angular separation thereof from the spout rim surfaces 23, about the rotational axis 31 of the valve member, by an angle A of the order of 20 to 30. One of the stud shafts 28 carries an upstanding gear portion 32 exterior of the outer surfaces 33 of the valve member and adapted to engage with the teeth 34 of ring rack gear teeth 35 depending downwardly from the inner surfaces 36 of the cap 14 closely about the outer surfaces 33 of the valve member. The spherical outer surfaces 33 engage with the inner concave spherical sealing surfaces 37 extending radially inwardly from the aperture 27 of cap 14 and by virtue of the elastomer resilence of the material of the cap member are deflected outwardly from the unengaged position of such surfaces demonstrated by numeral 37a to the engaged ring position shown at 37 by assembly of components effecting sliding engagement of surfaces 22, 23 and engagement with locking flanges I8 and 19 holding the cap 14 in as sembly with spout 12 and container 11.

It will be evident that if the valve member as seen in section in FIG. 3 is initially in a full counter-clockwise position the orifice 26 may be positioned as much as forty degrees or more out of registry with the cap aperture 27 and that rotation of the cap by articulation of ring gear 35 in gear teeth 32 may cause rotation of valve member through such angle at which further rotation is limited by engagementof stop surfaces 29 with spout rim surfaces 23 at which point orifice 26 will be in axial alignment with cap aperture 27. To rotate the valve member clockwise from the closed to the open position described requires an anti-clockwise rotation of cap member 14. This corresponds with the usual counter clockwise articulation of any cap to open a bottle and clockwise articulation thereof to close it.

In assembly of the components by assembly machine techniques the cap and ball may be inverted and the valve member dropped into the cap. The container in the inverted position is then brought into assembly with a twisting motion about its longitudinal axis to find registry of the saddle socket 16 with stud shafts 28 following which the valve member rotates to a limiting position then causing the cap to rotate with the container. Thereafter the container may be filled by injecting through the cap and valve elements in the open position.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the three component or three part container of the invention when made of an elastomer type plastic material, especially if such plastic material has a slightly slippery or greasy feel, can particularly lend itself to an initial injection molding formation of the container body and spout followed by a blow molding of the container body to the final form. Also the components, by virtue of the elastomer and resilient nature of the plastic material, as for example materials today generally used for squeezetype plastic containers, adapt the assembly of the components to effect locking retention of the components in assembly and a slidable pressure sealing engagement of the sealing surfaces 37, 37a between the cap and the valve member providing a positive slidable spherical seal within which the valve member is movable while the assembly of the cap with the spout is located and retained by flange l8 and locking ring 19 as defined by the locating surfaces of the spout 23 and the cap 22.

I claim as my invention:

1. A valved container comprising: a container body and a spout on said body defining the container opening; a rotatable cap member adapted for assembly over said spout and having a skirt portion; a terminal rim locating surface spaced axially from an exterior locking flange on said spout; an inner annular locating surface in said cap spaced axially a corresponding distance from an inwardly extending locking bead in the skirt of said cap, said locking bead being adapted to engage the flange of said spout and to retain the cap tensionably in rotatable assembly on said spout; a pair of diametrically opposed saddle sockets in the rim locating surface of said spout; a substantially hemispherical valve member having a pair of opposed stud shafts thereon respectively seatable for rotation of the valve member in said saddle sockets and a gear part in the form of a series of gear teeth associated with one of said stud shafts; stop means on said stud shafts adapted to engage said rim locating surface adjacent said saddle sockets to limit the rotation of said valve member in said saddle sockets between first and second limiting positions; ring gear teeth in said cap extending inwardly and engaging said gear part to effect rotation of the valve member upon rotation of the cap on the spout; tensionable partspherical sealing surfaces within said cap engageable with the outer hemispherical surface of the valve member and rising in said cap to define a central aperture therein; and an orifice in the valve member alignable with said aperture upon rotation of the valve member by rotation of the cap to one of said first and second limiting positions defined by engagement by the stop means on said stud shafts with said spout rim locating surface.

2. The container of claim 1 in which the hemispherical portion of the valve member is of substantially uniform thickness.

- 3. The container of claim 1 in which the cap about the aperture thereof is tensionably deformable to effect a positive resilient engagement of its inner sealing surfaces with'the outer hemispherical surface of the valve member when in locked assembly with said spout.

4. The container of claim 1 in which the container body is of blow moulded construction and the spout thereof is of injection moulded construction, said spout and body being formed in one piece.

5. The container of claim 1 comprising three components only, all of said components being injection moulded from an elastomer type plastic material and defining interference fits between the juxtaposed surfaces of said components, being adapted for assembly 0 s id com o ents b virtu of th el stomeric nature of the mateiial there f to ef fect alocl cmg retention of said components in assembly and the slidable pressure sealing engagement of surfaces of the cap about the aperture thereof over the hemispherical surface of the valve member.

6. The container of claim 1 in which the valve member is rotatable between said first and second limiting positions defining fully open and fully closed positions, through an angle of less than 60, and in which the articulation of the ring gear teeth and the valve member gear part rotates the valve member into said first limiting positions for positioning of its orifice into alignment with the aperture of the cap by rotation of the cap counter-clockwise on the container spout.

7. The container of claim 1 adapted to be assembled automatically in the inverted position of the components thereof by first placing the valve member in the cap and then inserting the container spout while effecting relative rotation of the cap and spout until the cap and spout rotate together by virtue of seating of the stud shafts of the valve member in the saddle sockets of the spout and engagement of the gear teeth of the valve member by the ring gear of the cap to effect rotation of the valve member to a stop position. 

1. A valved container comprising: a container body and a spout on said body defining the container opening; a rotatable cap member adapted for assembly over said spout and having a skirt portion; a terminal rim locating surface spaced axially from an exterior locking flange on said spout; an inner annular locating surface in said cap spaced axially a corresponding distance from an inwardly extending locking bead in the skirt of said cap, said locking bead being adapted to engage the flange of said spout and to retain the cap tensionably in rotatable assembly on said spout; a pair of diametrically opposed saddle sockets in the rim locating surface of said spout; a substantially hemispherical valve member having a pair of opposed stud shafts thereon respectively seatable for rotation of the valve member in said saddle sockets and a gear part in the form of a series of gear teeth associated with one of said stud shafts; stop means on said stud shafts adapted to engage said rim locating surface adjacent said saddle sockets to limit the rotation of said valve member in said saddle sockets between first and second limiting positions; ring gear teeth in said cap extending inwardly and engaging said gear part to effect rotation of the valve member upon rotation of the cap on the spout; tensionable part-spherical sealing surfaces within said cap engageable with the outer hemispherical surface of the valve member and rising in said cap to define a central aperture therein; and an orifice in the valve member alignable with said aperture upon rotation of the valve member by rotation of the cap to one of said first and second limiting positions defined by engagement by the stop means on said stud shafts with said spout rim locating surface.
 2. The container of claim 1 in which the hemispherical portion of the valve member is of substantially uniform thickness.
 3. The container of claim 1 in which the cap about the aperture thereof is tensionably deformable to effect a positive resilient engagement of its inner sealing surfaces with the outer hemispherical surface of the valve member when in locked assembly with said spout.
 4. The container of claim 1 in which the container body is of blow moulded construction and the spout thereof is of injection moulded construction, said spout and body being formed in one piece.
 5. The container of claim 1 comprising three components only, all of said components being injection moulded from an elastomer type plastic material and defining interference fits between the juxtaposed surfaces of said components, being adapted for assembly of said components by virtue of the elastomeric nature of the material thereof to effect a locking retention of said components in assembly and the slidable pressure sealing engagement of surfaces of the cap about the aperture thereof over the hemispherical surface of the valve member.
 6. The container of claim 1 in which the valve member is rotatable between said first and second limiting positions defining fully open and fully closed positions, through an angle of less than 60*, and in which the articulation of the ring gear teeth and the valve member gear part rotates the valve member into said first limiting positions for positioning of its orifice into alignment with the aperture of the cap by rotation of the cap counter-clockwise on the container spout.
 7. The container of claim 1 adapted to be assembled automatically in the inverted position of the components thereof by first placing the valve member in the cap and then inserting the Container spout while effecting relative rotation of the cap and spout until the cap and spout rotate together by virtue of seating of the stud shafts of the valve member in the saddle sockets of the spout and engagement of the gear teeth of the valve member by the ring gear of the cap to effect rotation of the valve member to a stop position. 